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Winds, as if their Boughs and Leaves had been par'd or fhaven off on that fide.

It is alfo obferv'd that the Western Wind, which is the moft violent and boisterous of all with us in England, which comes from off the great Atlantick Ocean, is of longeft continuance. Julius Cafar, in his 5th Book of Commentaries de bello Gallico, faith of it, Magnam partem omnis temporis in his locis fluere confuevit; it is wont to blow in these quarters a great part of the whole Year. Which Obfervation holds true at this day, the Wind lying in that corner at leaft three quarters of the Year.

Since this Motion of the Winds is conftant, there is doubtless a conftant and fetled Cause of it, which deferves to be enquir'd into and fearch'd out by the Study and Endeavours of the moft fagacious Naturalifts. But however the Wind be rais'd, it may more eafily blow from Sea to Land, than from Land to Sea, because the Superficies of the Sea being even or level, there is nothing to ftop its Courfe; but on the Land there are not only Woods, but Mountains to hinder and divert it.

Having my felf feen fo much of the bottom of the Sea round about the Coafts of England, and a great part of the Low Countries, of Italy and Sicily, I muft needs adhere to what I deliver'd, That where the bottom of the Sea is not Rocky, but Earth, Owze or Sand, and that is incomparably the greatest part of it, it is by the Motion of the Waters, fo far as the Reciprocation of the Sea extends to the bottom, brought

to

to a level; and if it should be now unequal, would in time be level'd again. By level I do not mean fo as to have no declivity (for the Reciprocation preferves that, the Flood hindring the conftant carrying down of the bottom) but only to have an equal and uniform defcent from the Shores to the Deeps. Now all those relations of Urinators belong only to thofe places where they have dived, which are always rocky: for there is no reason why they should dive where the bottom is level and fandy. That the Motion of the Water defcends to a good depth,

I

prove from thofe Plants that grow deepest in the Sea, because they all generally grow flat in manner of a Fan, and not with branches on all fides like Trees; which is fo contriv'd by the providence of Nature, for that the edges of them do in that posture with most cafe cut the Water flowing to and fro; and should the flat fide be objected to the ftream, it would foon be turn'd edge-wife by the force of it, because in that fite it doth leaft refift the Motion of the Water whereas did the Branches of thefe Plants grow round, they would be thrown backward and forward every Tide. Nay, not only the Herbaceous and Woody Submarine Plants, but also the * Lithophyta themfelves affect this manner of growing, as I have obferv'd in various kinds of Corals and Pori. Hence I fufpect all thofe Relations concerning Trees growing at the bottom of the Sea, and bringing forth Fruit there: and as for the Maldiva Nut, till better Information, I adhere

* Stone

Plants.

to Garcias's Opinion, which may be seen in Clufius. Further I do believe, that in the great depths of the Sea there grow no Plants at all, the bottom being too remote from the external Air, which though it may pierce the Water fo low, yet I doubt whether in quantity sufficient for the Vegetation of Plants: Nay, we are told that in thofe deep and bottomlefs Seas there are no Fish at all; yet not because there are no Plants or Infects to feed them, for that they can live upon Water alone, Rondeletius's Experiment about keeping them in a Glafs doth undeniably prove, but because their Spawn would be loft in those Seas, the bottom being too cold for it to quicken there; or rather because being lighter than the Water, there, it would not fink to the bottom, but be buoy'd up by it, and carried away to the Shallows.

Again, The great use and convenience, the beauty and variety of fo many Springs and Fountains, fo many Brooks and Rivers, fo many Lakes and standing Pools of Water, and these fo fcatter'd and difpers'd all the Earth over, that no great part of it is deftitute of them, without which it muft, without a fupply otherways, be defolate and void of Inhabitants; afford abundant Arguments of Wisdom and Counsel. That Springs fhould break forth on the fides of Mountains moft remote from the Sea. That there fhould way be made for Rivers thro' Straits and Rocks, and fubterraneous Vaults, fo that one would think that Nature had cut a way on purpose to derive the Water, which elfe

would

would overflow and drown whole Countries. That the Water paffing thro' the Veins of the Earth, fhould be rendred fresh and potable, which it cannot be by any percolations we can make, but the faline Particles will pafs through a tenfold Filtre. That in fome places there should spring forth Metallick and Mineral Waters, and hot Baths, and thefe fo conftant and permanent for many Ages; fo convenient for divers Medicinal Intentions and Ufes, the Caufes of which things, or the Means and Methods by which they are perform'd, have not been as yet certainly discover'd; only in general Pliny's Remark may be true, Tales funt aqua, qualis terra per quam fluunt. Hence they are Cold, Hot, Sweet, Stinking, Purgative, Diuretick or Ferrugineous, Saline, Petrefying, Bituminofe, Venenofe, and of other qualities.

Laftly, The Earth, which is the Bafis and Support of all Animals and Plants, and affords them the hard and folid part of their Bodies, yielding us Food and Suftenance, and partly alfo Clothing; for I do not think that Water fupplies Man and other Animals, or even Plants themselves, with their nourishment, but ferves chiefly for a Vehicle to the alimentary Particles, to convey and diftribute them to the feveral parts of the Body. Water, as it exifts in the World, is not a fimple unmix'd Body, but contains the terrestrial component Parts of the Bodies of Animals and Plants: Simple Elementary Water nourishes not at all. How variously is the Surface of this Earth diftinguish'd into G 4 Hills,

Hills, and Valleys, and Plains, and high Mountains, affording pleafant Profpects? How curioufly cloath'd and adorn'd with the grateful verdure of Herbs and ftately Trees, either difpers'd and fcatter'd fingly, or as it were affembled in Woods and Groves, and all thefe beautified and illuftrated with elegant Flowers and Fruits, quorum omnium incredibilis multitudo, infatiabili va rietate diftinguitur, as Tully faith. This alfo hews forth to them that confider it, both the Power and Wisdom of God: So that we may conclude with Solomon, Prov. 3. 19. The Lord by Wifdom bath founded the Earth, by Underftanding bath he establish'd the Heavens.

But now, if we pafs from Simple to Mix'd, Bodies, we fhall ftill find more matter of Admiration, and Argument of Wifdom. Of thefe we fall first confider those they call imperfectly Mix'd, or Meteors.

Of Meteors.

As first of all Rain, which is nothing elfe but Water by the heat of the Sun divided into very small invifible Parts, afcending in the Air, till encountring the Cold, it be by degrees condens'd into Clouds, and defcends in Drops; this, though it be exhaled from the Salt Sea, yet by this Natural Diftillation is render'd fresh and potable, which our Artificial Distillations have hitherto been hardly able to effect; notwithftanding the eminent ufe it would be of to Navigators, and the Rewards promis'd to those that

fhould

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